3D semiconductor device with isolation layers

ABSTRACT

A 3D semiconductor device, the device including: a first level including single crystal first transistors, where the first level is overlaid by a first isolation layer; a second level including single crystal second transistors, where the first isolation layer is overlaid by the second level, and where the second level is overlaid by a second isolation layer; a third level including single crystal third transistors, where the second isolation layer is overlaid by the third level, where the third level is overlaid by a third isolation layer, and where the first isolation layer and the second isolation layer are separated by a distance of less than four microns.

CROSS-REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/004,404, which was filed on Jun. 10, 2018, (nowU.S. Pat. No. 10,600,888 issued on Mar. 24, 2020), which is acontinuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/917,629, which was filed on Mar. 10, 2018 (now U.S. Pat. No.10,038,073 issued on Jul. 31, 2018), which is a continuation-in-partapplication of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/622,124, which wasfiled on Jun. 14, 2017 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,954,080 issued on Apr. 24,2018), which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/880,276, which was filed on Oct. 11, 2015 (nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,691,869 issued on Jun. 27, 2017), which is acontinuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/472,108, which was filed on Aug. 28, 2014 (now U.S. Pat. No.9,305,867 issued on Apr. 5, 2016), which is a continuation applicationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/959,994, which was filed on Aug.6, 2013 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,836,073 issued on Sep. 25, 2014), which isa continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/441,923, which was filed on Apr. 9, 2012 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,557,632issued on Oct. 15, 2013); the entire contents of the foregoing areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

This application relates to the general field of Integrated Circuit (IC)devices and fabrication methods, and more particularly to multilayer orThree Dimensional Integrated Circuit (3D IC) devices and fabricationmethods.

2. Discussion of Background Art

Performance enhancements and cost reductions in generations ofelectronic device technology has generally been achieved by reducing thesize of the device, resulting in an enhancement in device speed and areduction in the area of the device, and hence, its cost. This may begenerally referred to as ‘device scaling’. The dominant electronicdevice technology in use today may be the Metal-Oxide-Semiconductorfield effect transistor (MOSFET) technology.

Performance and cost are driven by transistor scaling and theinterconnection, or wiring, between those transistors. As the dimensionsof the device elements have approached the nanometer scale, theinterconnection wiring now dominates the performance, power, and densityof integrated circuit devices as described in J. A. Davis, et. al.,Proc. IEEE, vol. 89, no. 3, pp. 305-324, March 2001 (Davis).

Davis further teaches that three dimensional integrated circuits (3DICs), i.e. electronic chips in which active layers of transistors arestacked one above the other, separated by insulating oxides andconnected to each other by metal interconnect wires, may be the best wayto continue Moore's Law, especially as device scaling slows, stops, orbecomes too costly to continue. 3D integration would provide shorterinterconnect wiring and hence improved performance, lower powerconsumption, and higher density devices.

One approach to a practical implementation of a 3D IC independentlyprocesses two fully interconnected integrated circuits includingtransistors and wiring, thins one of the wafers, bonds the two waferstogether, and then makes electrical connections between the bondedwafers with Thru Silicon Vias (TSV) that may be fabricated prior to orafter the bonding. This approach may be less than satisfactory as thedensity of TSVs may be limited, because they may require large landingpads for the TSVs to overcome the poor wafer to wafer alignment and toallow for the large (about one to ten micron) diameter of the TSVs as aresult of the thickness of the wafers bonded together. Additionally,handling and processing thinned silicon wafers may be very difficult andprone to yield loss. Current prototypes of this approach only obtain TSVdensities of 10,000s per chip, in comparison to the millions ofinterconnections currently obtainable within a single chip.

By utilizing Silicon On Insulator (SOI) wafers and glass handle wafers,A. W. Topol, et. al, in the IEDM Tech Digest, p 363-5 (2005), describeattaining TSVs of tenths of microns. The TSV density may be stilllimited as a result from misalignment issues resulting from pre-formingthe random circuitry on both wafers prior to wafer bonding. In addition,SOI wafers are more costly than bulk silicon wafers.

Another approach may be to monolithically build transistors on top of awafer of interconnected transistors. The utility of this approach may belimited by the requirement to maintain the reliability of the highperformance lower layer interconnect metallization, such as, forexample, aluminum and copper, and low-k intermetal dielectrics, andhence limits the allowable temperature exposure to below approximately400° C. Some of the processing steps to create useful transistorelements may require temperatures above about 700° C., such asactivating semiconductor doping or crystallization of a previouslydeposited amorphous material such as silicon to create apoly-crystalline silicon (polysilicon or poly) layer. It may be verydifficult to achieve high performance transistors with only lowtemperature processing and without mono-crystalline silicon channels.However, this approach may be useful to construct memory devices wherethe transistor performance may not be critical.

Bakir and Meindl in the textbook “Integrated Interconnect Technologiesfor 3D Nanosystems”, Artech House, 2009, Chapter 13, illustrate a 3Dstacked Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) where the silicon for thestacked transistors is produced using selective epitaxy technology orlaser recrystallization. This concept may be unsatisfactory as thesilicon processed in this manner may have a higher defect density whencompared to single crystal silicon and hence may suffer in performance,stability, and control. It may also require higher temperatures than theunderlying metallization or low-k intermetal dielectric could be exposedto without reliability concerns.

Sang-Yun Lee in U.S. Pat. No. 7,052,941 discloses methods to constructvertical transistors by preprocessing a single crystal silicon waferwith doping layers activated at high temperature, layer transferring thewafer to another wafer with preprocessed circuitry and metallization,and then forming vertical transistors from those doping layers with lowtemperature processing, such as etching silicon. This may be less thansatisfactory as the semiconductor devices in the market today utilizehorizontal or horizontally oriented transistors and it would be verydifficult to convince the industry to move away from the horizontal.Additionally, the transistor performance may be less than satisfactoryas a result from large parasitic capacitances and resistances in thevertical structures, and the lack of self-alignment of the transistorgate.

A key technology for 3D IC construction may be layer transfer, whereby athin layer of a silicon wafer, called the donor wafer, may betransferred to another wafer, called the acceptor wafer, or targetwafer. As described by L. DiCioccio, et. al., at ICICDT 2010 pg 110, thetransfer of a thin (about tens of microns to tens of nanometers) layerof mono-crystalline silicon at low temperatures (below approximately400° C.) may be performed with low temperature direct oxide-oxidebonding, wafer thinning, and surface conditioning. This process iscalled “Smart Stacking” by Soitec (Crolles, France). In addition, the“SmartCut” process is a well understood technology used for fabricationof SOI wafers. The “SmartCut” process employs a hydrogen implant toenable cleaving of the donor wafer after the layer transfer. Theseprocesses with some variations and under different names may becommercially available from SiGen (Silicon Genesis Corporation, SanJose, Calif.). A room temperature wafer bonding process utilizingion-beam preparation of the wafer surfaces in a vacuum has been recentlydemonstrated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Tokyo, Japan. Thisprocess allows room temperature layer transfer.

There are many techniques to construct 3D stacked integrated circuits orchips including:

Through-silicon via (TSV) technology: Multiple layers of transistors(with or without wiring levels) can be constructed separately. Followingthis, they can be bonded to each other and connected to each other withthrough-silicon vias (TSVs).

Monolithic 3D technology: With this approach, multiple layers oftransistors and wires can be monolithically constructed. Some monolithic3D and 3DIC approaches are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,273,610,8,298,875, 8,362,482, 8,378,715, 8,379,458, 8,450,804, 8,557,632,8,574,929, 8,581,349, 8,642,416, 8,669,778, 8,674,470, 8,687,399,8,742,476, 8,803,206, 8,836,073, 8,902,663, 8,994,404, 9,023,688,9,029,173, 9,030,858, 9,117,749, 9,142,553, 9,219,005, 9,385,058,9,406,670, 9,460,978, 9,509,313, 9,640,531, 9,691,760, 9,711,407,9,721,927, 9,799,761, 9,871,034, 9,953,870, 9,953,994, 10,014,292,10,014,318; and pending U.S. Patent Application Publications andapplications, Ser. Nos. 14/642,724, 15/150,395, 15/173,686, 62/651,722;62/681,249, 62/713,345, 62/770,751; and PCT Applications (andPublications): PCT/US2010/052093, PCT/US2011/042071 (WO2012/015550),PCT/US2016/52726 (WO2017053329), PCT/US2017/052359 (WO2018/071143),PCT/US2018/016759 (WO2018144957), and PCT/US2018/52332 (WO 2019/060798).The entire contents of the foregoing patents, publications, andapplications are incorporated herein by reference.

Electro-Optics: There is also work done for integrated monolithic 3Dincluding layers of different crystals, such as U.S. Pat. Nos.8,283,215, 8,163,581, 8,753,913, 8,823,122, 9,197,804, 9,419,031 and9,941,319. The entire contents of the foregoing patents, publications,and applications are incorporated herein by reference.

Additionally the 3D technology according to some embodiments of theinvention may enable some very innovative IC alternatives with reduceddevelopment costs, increased yield, and other illustrative benefits.

SUMMARY

The invention may be directed to multilayer or Three DimensionalIntegrated Circuit (3D IC) devices and fabrication methods.

In one aspect, a 3D semiconductor device, the device comprising: a firstlevel comprising single crystal first transistors, wherein said firstlevel is overlaid by a first isolation layer; a second level comprisingsingle crystal second transistors, wherein said first isolation layer isoverlaid by said second level, and wherein said second level is overlaidby a second isolation layer; a third level comprising single crystalthird transistors, wherein said second isolation layer is overlaid bysaid third level, wherein said third level is overlaid by a thirdisolation layer, and wherein said first isolation layer and said secondisolation layer are separated by a distance of less than four microns.

In another aspect, a 3D semiconductor device, the device comprising: afirst level comprising single crystal first transistors, wherein saidfirst level is overlaid by a first isolation layer; a second levelcomprising single crystal second transistors, wherein said firstisolation layer is overlaid by said second level, and wherein saidsecond level is overlaid by a second isolation layer; a third levelcomprising single crystal third transistors, wherein said secondisolation layer is overlaid by said third level, wherein said thirdlevel is overlaid by a third isolation layer; and a connective path fromsaid third transistors to said second transistors, wherein saidconnective path comprises a via through said second isolation, andwherein said via has a diameter of less than 400 nm.

In another aspect, a 3D semiconductor device, the device comprising: afirst level comprising single crystal first transistors, wherein saidfirst level is overlaid by a first isolation layer; a second levelcomprising single crystal second transistors, wherein said firstisolation layer is overlaid by said second level, and wherein saidsecond level is overlaid by a second isolation layer; a third levelcomprising single crystal third transistors, wherein said secondisolation layer is overlaid by said third level, wherein said thirdlevel is overlaid by a third isolation layer, and wherein misalignmentbetween said third transistors and said second transistors is less than100 nm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments of the invention will be understood and appreciatedmore fully from the following detailed description, taken in conjunctionwith the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary drawing illustration of a layer transfer processflow;

FIGS. 2A-2H are exemplary drawing illustrations of the preprocessedwafers and layers and generalized layer transfer;

FIGS. 3A-3D are exemplary drawing illustrations of a generalized layertransfer process flow;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary drawing illustration and a transistorcharacteristic graph of a junction-less transistor;

FIGS. 5A-5B are exemplary device simulations of a junction-lesstransistor;

FIGS. 6A-6K, 6K1, 6K2, and 6L are exemplary drawing illustrations of theformation of a floating body DRAM transistor and device;

FIGS. 7A-7J, 7J1, 7J2, and 7K are exemplary drawing illustrations of theformation of a resistive memory transistor and device;

FIGS. 8A-8J, 8J1, 8J2, and 8K are exemplary drawing illustrations of theformation of a resistive memory transistor and device;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram representation of an exemplary mobilecomputing device (MCD); and

FIGS. 10A-10G are exemplary drawing illustrations of the formation of acharge trap memory transistor, array and device.

DESCRIPTION

Some embodiments of the invention are described herein with reference tothe drawing figures. Persons of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that the description and figures illustrate rather than limitthe invention and that in general the figures are not drawn to scale forclarity of presentation. Such skilled persons will also realize thatmany more embodiments are possible by applying the inventive principlescontained herein and that such embodiments fall within the scope of theinvention which is not to be limited except by the appended claims.

Many figures may describe process flows for building devices. Theseprocess flows, which may be a sequence of steps for building a device,may have many structures, numerals and labels that may be common betweentwo or more adjacent steps. In such cases, some labels, numerals andstructures used for a certain step's figure may have been described inthe previous steps' figures.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a generalized single layer transfer procedurethat utilizes the above techniques may begin with acceptor substrate100, which may be a preprocessed CMOS silicon wafer, or a partiallyprocessed CMOS, or other prepared silicon or semiconductor substrate.CMOS may include n-type transistors and p-type transistors. Acceptorsubstrate 100 may include elements such as, for example, transistors,alignment marks, metal layers, and metal connection strips. The metallayers may be utilized to interconnect the transistors. The acceptorsubstrate may also be called target wafer. The acceptor substrate 100may be prepared for oxide to oxide wafer bonding by a deposition of anoxide 102, and the acceptor substrate surface 104 may be made ready forlow temperature bonding by various surface treatments, such as, forexample, an RCA pre-clean that may include dilute ammonium hydroxide orhydrochloric acid, and may include plasma surface preparations, whereingases such as oxygen, argon, and other gases or combinations of gasesand plasma energies that changes the oxide surfaces so to lower theoxide to oxide bonding energy. In addition, polishes may be employed toachieve satisfactory flatness.

A donor wafer or substrate 110 may be prepared for cleaving by animplant or implants of atomic species, such as, for example, Hydrogenand Helium, to form a layer transfer demarcation plane 199, shown as adashed line. Layer transfer demarcation plane 199 may be formed beforeor after other processing on the donor wafer or substrate 110. The donorwafer or substrate 110 may be prepared for oxide to oxide wafer bondingby a deposition of an oxide 112, and the donor wafer surface 114 may bemade ready for low temperature bonding by various surface treatments,such as, for example, an RCA pre-clean that may include dilute ammoniumhydroxide or hydrochloric acid, and may include plasma surfacepreparations, wherein gases such as oxygen, argon, and other gases orcombinations of gases and plasma energies that change the oxide surfacesso to lower the oxide to oxide bonding energy. In addition, polishes maybe employed to achieve satisfactory flatness. The donor wafer orsubstrate 110 may have prefabricated layers, structures, alignmentmarks, transistors or circuits.

Donor wafer or substrate 110 may be bonded to acceptor substrate 100, ortarget wafer, by bringing the donor wafer surface 114 in physicalcontact with acceptor substrate surface 104, and then applyingmechanical force and/or thermal annealing to strengthen the oxide tooxide bond. Alignment of the donor wafer or substrate 110 with theacceptor substrate 100 may be performed immediately prior to the waferbonding. Acceptable bond strengths may be obtained with bonding thermalcycles that do not exceed approximately 400° C.

The donor wafer or substrate 110 may be cleaved at or near the layertransfer demarcation plane 199 and removed leaving transferred layer 120bonded and attached to acceptor substrate 100, or target wafer. Thecleaving may be accomplished by various applications of energy to thelayer transfer demarcation plane, such as, for example, a mechanicalstrike by a knife, or jet of liquid or jet of air, or by local laserheating, or other suitable cleaving methods that propagate a fracture orseparation approximately at the layer transfer demarcation plane 199.The transferred layer 120 may be polished chemically and mechanically toprovide a suitable surface for further processing. The transferred layer120 may be of thickness approximately 200 nm or less to enable formationof nanometer sized thru layer vias and create a high density ofinterconnects between the donor wafer and acceptor wafer. The thinnerthe transferred layer 120, the smaller the thru layer via diameterobtainable, as a result of maintaining manufacturable via aspect ratios.Thus, the transferred layer 120 may be, for example, less than about 2microns thick, less than about 1 micron thick, less than about 0.4microns thick, less than about 200 nm thick, less than about 150 nmthick, or less than about 100 nm thick. The thickness of the layer orlayers transferred according to some embodiments of the invention may bedesigned as such to match and enable the most suitable lithographicresolution capability of the manufacturing process employed to createthe thru layer vias or any other structures on the transferred layer orlayers. The donor wafer or substrate 110 may now also be processed andreused for more layer transfers.

Transferred layer 120 may then be further processed to create amonolithic layer of interconnected devices 120′ and the formation ofthru layer vias (TLVs, or through-layer vias) to electrically couple(connection path) donor wafer circuitry with acceptor wafer circuitry.Alignment marks in acceptor substrate 100 and/or in transferred layer120 may be utilized to contact transistors and circuitry in transferredlayer 120 and electrically couple them to transistors and circuitry inthe acceptor substrate 100. The use of an implanted atomic species, suchas, for example, Hydrogen or Helium or a combination, to create acleaving plane, such as, for example, layer transfer demarcation plane199, and the subsequent cleaving at or near the cleaving plane asdescribed above may be referred to in this document as “ion-cut”, andmay be the typically illustrated layer transfer method. As the TLVs areformed through the transferred layer 120, the thickness of the TLVs maybe, for example, less than about 2 microns thick, less than about 1micron thick, less than about 0.4 microns thick, less than about 200 nmthick, less than about 150 nm thick, or less than about 100 nm thick.TLVs may be constructed mostly out of electrically conductive materialsincluding, for example, copper, aluminum, conductive carbon, ortungsten. Barrier metals, including, for example, TiN and TaN, may beutilized to form TLVs.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that theillustrations in FIG. 1 are exemplary only and are not drawn to scale.Such skilled persons will further appreciate that many variations arepossible such as, for example, a heavily doped (greater than 1e20atoms/cm3) boron layer or a silicon germanium (SiGe) layer may beutilized as an etch stop layer either within the ion-cut process flow,wherein the layer transfer demarcation plane may be placed within theetch stop layer or into the substrate material below, or the etch stoplayers may be utilized without an implant cleave or ion-cut process andthe donor wafer may be preferentially etched away until the etch stoplayer may be reached. Such skilled persons will further appreciate thatthe oxide layer within an SOI or GeOI donor wafer may serve as the etchstop layer. Many other modifications within the scope of the inventionwill suggest themselves to such skilled persons after reading thisspecification. Thus the invention is to be limited only by the appendedclaims.

Alternatively, other technologies and techniques may be utilized forlayer transfer as described in, for example, IBM's layer transfer methodshown at IEDM 2005 by A. W. Topol, et. al. The IBM's layer transfermethod employs a SOI technology and utilizes glass handle wafers. Thedonor circuit may be high-temperature processed on an SOI wafer,temporarily bonded to a borosilicate glass handle wafer, backsidethinned by chemical mechanical polishing of the silicon and then theBuried Oxide (BOX) may be selectively etched off. The now thinned donorwafer may be subsequently aligned and low-temperature oxide-to-oxidebonded to the acceptor wafer topside. A low temperature release of theglass handle wafer from the thinned donor wafer may be next performed,and then thru layer via (or layer to layer) connections may be made.

Additionally, the inventors contemplate that other technology can beused. For example, an epitaxial liftoff (ELO) technology as shown by P.Demeester, et. al, of IMEC in Semiconductor Science Technology 1993 maybe utilized for layer transfer. ELO makes use of the selective removalof a very thin sacrificial layer between the substrate and the layerstructure to be transferred. The to-be-transferred layer of GaAs orsilicon may be adhesively ‘rolled’ up on a cylinder or removed from thesubstrate by utilizing a flexible carrier, such as, for example, blackwax, to bow up the to-be-transferred layer structure when the selectiveetch, such as, for example, diluted Hydrofluoric (HF) Acid, etches theexposed release layer, such as, for example, the silicon oxide in SOI ora layer of AlAs. After liftoff, the transferred layer may be thenaligned and bonded to the desired acceptor substrate or wafer. Themanufacturability of the ELO process for multilayer layer transfer usewas recently improved by J. Yoon, et. al., of the University of Illinoisat Urbana-Champaign as described in Nature May 20, 2010.

Canon developed a layer transfer technology called ELTRAN—EpitaxialLayer TRANsfer from porous silicon. ELTRAN may be utilized as a layertransfer method. The Electrochemical Society Meeting abstract No. 438from year 2000 and the JSAP International July 2001 paper show a seedwafer being anodized in an HF/ethanol solution to create pores in thetop layer of silicon, the pores may be treated with a low temperatureoxidation and then high temperature hydrogen annealed to seal the pores.Epitaxial silicon may then be deposited on top of the porous silicon andthen oxidized to form the SOI BOX. The seed wafer may be bonded to ahandle wafer and the seed wafer may be split off by high pressure waterdirected at the porous silicon layer. The porous silicon may then beselectively etched off leaving a uniform silicon layer.

FIG. 2A is a drawing illustration of a generalized preprocessed wafer orlayer 200. The wafer or layer 200 may have preprocessed circuitry, suchas, for example, logic circuitry, microprocessors, circuitry includingtransistors of various types, and other types of digital or analogcircuitry including, but not limited to, the various embodimentsdescribed herein. Preprocessed wafer or layer 200 may have preprocessedmetal interconnects, such as, for example, of copper or aluminum. Thepreprocessed metal interconnects, such as, for example, metal stripspads, or lines, may be designed and prepared for layer transfer andelectrical coupling from preprocessed wafer or layer 200 to the layer orlayers to be transferred.

FIG. 2B is a drawing illustration of a generalized transfer layer 202prior to being attached to preprocessed wafer or layer 200. Preprocessedwafer or layer 200 may be called a target wafer or acceptor substrate.Transfer layer 202 may be attached to a carrier wafer or substrateduring layer transfer. Transfer layer 202 may have metal interconnects,such as, for example, metal strips, pads, or lines, designed andprepared for layer transfer and electrical coupling to preprocessedwafer or layer 200. Transfer layer 202, which may also be called thesecond semiconductor layer, may include mono-crystalline silicon, ordoped mono-crystalline silicon layer or layers, or other semiconductor,metal (including such as aluminum or copper interconnect layers), andinsulator materials, layers; or multiple regions of single crystalsilicon, or mono-crystalline silicon, or dope mono-crystalline silicon,or other semiconductor, metal, or insulator materials. A preprocessedwafer that can withstand subsequent processing of transistors on top athigh temperatures may be a called the “Foundation” or a foundationwafer, layer or circuitry. The terms ‘mono-crystalline silicon’ and‘single crystal silicon’ may be used interchangeably.

FIG. 2C is a drawing illustration of a preprocessed wafer or layer 200Acreated by the layer transfer of transfer layer 202 on top ofpreprocessed wafer or layer 200. The top of preprocessed wafer or layer200A may be further processed with metal interconnects, such as, forexample, metal strips, pads, or lines, designed and prepared for layertransfer and electrical coupling from preprocessed wafer or layer 200Ato the next layer or layers to be transferred.

FIG. 2D is a drawing illustration of a generalized transfer layer 202Aprior to being attached to preprocessed wafer or layer 200A. Transferlayer 202A may be attached to a carrier wafer or substrate during layertransfer. Transfer layer 202A may have metal interconnects, such as, forexample, metal strips, pads, or lines, designed and prepared for layertransfer and electrical coupling to preprocessed wafer or layer 200A.Transfer layer 202A may include mono-crystalline silicon, or dopedmono-crystalline silicon layer or layers, or other semiconductor, metal,and insulator materials, layers; or multiple regions of single crystalsilicon, or mono-crystalline silicon, or dope mono-crystalline silicon,or other semiconductor, metal, or insulator materials.

FIG. 2E is a drawing illustration of a preprocessed wafer or layer 200Bcreated by the layer transfer of transfer layer 202A on top ofpreprocessed wafer or layer 200A. Transfer layer 202A may also be calledthe third semiconductor layer. The top of preprocessed wafer or layer200B may be further processed with metal interconnects, such as, forexample, metal strips, pads, or lines, designed and prepared for layertransfer and electrical coupling from preprocessed wafer or layer 200Bto the next layer or layers to be transferred.

FIG. 2F is a drawing illustration of a generalized transfer layer 202Bprior to being attached to preprocessed wafer or layer 200B. Transferlayer 202B may be attached to a carrier wafer or substrate during layertransfer. Transfer layer 202B may have metal interconnects, such as, forexample, metal strips, pads, or lines, designed and prepared for layertransfer and electrical coupling to preprocessed wafer or layer 200B.Transfer layer 202B may include mono-crystalline silicon, or dopedmono-crystalline silicon layer or layers, or other semiconductor, metal,and insulator materials, layers; or multiple regions of single crystalsilicon, or mono-crystalline silicon, or dope mono-crystalline silicon,or other semiconductor, metal, or insulator materials.

FIG. 2G is a drawing illustration of preprocessed wafer or layer 200Ccreated by the layer transfer of transfer layer 202B on top ofpreprocessed wafer or layer 200B. The top of preprocessed wafer or layer200C may be further processed with metal interconnect, such as, forexample, metal strips, pads, or lines, designed and prepared for layertransfer and electrical coupling from preprocessed wafer or layer 200Cto the next layer or layers to be transferred.

FIG. 2H is a drawing illustration of preprocessed wafer or layer 200C, a3D IC stack, which may include transferred layers 202A and 202B on topof the original preprocessed wafer or layer 200. Transferred layers 202Aand 202B and the original preprocessed wafer or layer 200 may includetransistors of one or more types in one or more layers, metallizationsuch as, for example, copper or aluminum in one or more layers,interconnections to and among layers above and below (connection paths,such as TLVs or TSVs), and interconnections within the layer. Thetransistors may be of various types that may be different from layer tolayer or within the same layer. The transistors may be in variousorganized patterns. The transistors may be in various pattern repeats orbands. The transistors may be in multiple layers involved in thetransfer layer. The transistors may be, for example, junction-lesstransistors or recessed channel transistors or other types oftransistors described in this document. Transferred layers 202A and 202Band the original preprocessed wafer or layer 200 may further includesemiconductor devices such as, for example, resistors and capacitors andinductors, one or more programmable interconnects, memory structures anddevices, sensors, radio frequency devices, or optical interconnect withassociated transceivers. The terms carrier wafer or carrier substratemay also be called holder wafer or holder substrate.

This layer transfer process can be repeated many times, thereby creatingpreprocessed wafers that may include many different transferred layerswhich, when combined, can then become preprocessed wafers or layers forfuture transfers. This layer transfer process may be sufficientlyflexible that preprocessed wafers and transfer layers, if properlyprepared, can be flipped over and processed on either side with furthertransfers in either direction as a matter of design choice.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that theillustrations in FIGS. 2A through 2H are exemplary only and are notdrawn to scale. Such skilled persons will further appreciate that manyvariations are possible such as, for example, the preprocessed wafer orlayer 200 may act as a base or substrate layer in a wafer transfer flow,or as a preprocessed or partially preprocessed circuitry acceptor waferin a wafer transfer process flow. Many other modifications within thescope of the invention will suggest themselves to such skilled personsafter reading this specification. Thus the invention is to be limitedonly by the appended claims.

One industry method to form a low temperature gate stack may be called ahigh-k metal gate (HKMG) and may be referred to in later discussions.The high-k metal gate structure may be formed as follows. Following anindustry standard HF/SC1/SC2 cleaning to create an atomically smoothsurface, a high-k dielectric may be deposited. The semiconductorindustry has chosen Hafnium-based dielectrics as the leading material ofchoice to replace SiO₂ and Silicon oxynitride. The Hafnium-based familyof dielectrics includes hafnium oxide and hafnium silicate/hafniumsilicon oxynitride. Hafnium oxide, HfO₂, may have a dielectric constanttwice as much as that of hafnium silicate/hafnium silicon oxynitride(HfSiO/HfSiON k˜15). The choice of the metal may be critical for thedevice to perform properly. A metal replacing N⁺ poly as the gateelectrode may need to have a work function of approximately 4.2 eV forthe device to operate properly and at the right threshold voltage.Alternatively, a metal replacing P⁺ poly as the gate electrode may needto have a work function of approximately 5.2 eV to operate properly. TheTiAl and TiAlN based family of metals, for example, could be used totune the work function of the metal from 4.2 eV to 5.2 eV.

Alternatively, a low temperature gate stack may be formed with a gateoxide formed by a microwave oxidation technique, such as, for example,the TEL SPA (Tokyo Electron Limited Slot Plane Antenna) oxygen radicalplasma, that grows or deposits a low temperature Gate Dielectric toserve as the MOSFET gate oxide, or an atomic layer deposition (ALD)deposition technique may be utilized. A metal gate of proper workfunction, such as, for example, aluminum or tungsten, or low temperaturedoped amorphous silicon gate electrode, may then be deposited.

Transistors constructed in this document can be considered “planartransistors” when the current flow in the transistor channel may besubstantially in the horizontal direction. The horizontal direction maybe defined as the direction being parallel to the largest area ofsurface of the substrate or wafer that the transistor may be built orlayer transferred onto. These transistors can also be referred to ashorizontal transistors, horizontally oriented transistors, or lateraltransistors. In some embodiments of the invention the horizontaltransistor may be constructed in a two-dimensional plane where thesource and the drain are in the same two dimensional horizontal plane.

An embodiment of the invention is to pre-process a donor wafer byforming wafer sized layers of various materials without a processtemperature restriction, then layer transferring the pre-processed donorwafer to the acceptor wafer, and processing at either low temperature(below approximately 400° C.) or high temperature (greater thanapproximately 400° C.) after the layer transfer to form devicestructures, such as, for example, transistors and metal interconnect, onor in the donor wafer that may be physically aligned and may beelectrically coupled or connected to the acceptor wafer. A wafer sizedlayer denotes a continuous layer of material or combination of materialsthat may extend across the wafer to substantially the full extent of thewafer edges and may be approximately uniform in thickness. If the wafersized layer compromises dopants, then the dopant concentration may besubstantially the same in the x and y direction across the wafer, butcan vary in the z direction perpendicular to the wafer surface.

As illustrated in FIG. 3A, a generalized process flow may begin with adonor wafer 300 that may be preprocessed with wafer sized layers 302 ofconducting, semi-conducting or insulating materials that may be formedby deposition, ion implantation and anneal, oxidation, epitaxial growth,combinations of above, or other semiconductor processing steps andmethods. The donor wafer 300 may be preprocessed with a layer transferdemarcation plane (shown as dashed line) 399, such as, for example, ahydrogen implant cleave plane, before or after layers 302 are formed.Acceptor wafer 310 may be a preprocessed wafer that may have fullyfunctional circuitry including metal layers (including aluminum orcopper metal interconnect layers that may connect acceptor wafer 310transistors) or may be a wafer with previously transferred layers, ormay be a blank carrier or holder wafer, or other kinds of substratessuitable for layer transfer processing. Acceptor wafer 310 may havealignment marks 390 and metal connect pads or strips 380. Acceptor wafer310 and the donor wafer 300 may be a bulk mono-crystalline silicon waferor a Silicon On Insulator (SOI) wafer or a Germanium on Insulator (GeOI)wafer.

Both bonding surfaces 301 and 311 may be prepared for wafer bonding bydepositions, polishes, plasma, or wet chemistry treatments to facilitatesuccessful wafer to wafer bonding.

As illustrated in FIG. 3B, the donor wafer 300 with layers 302 and layertransfer demarcation plane 399 may then be flipped over, aligned, andbonded to the acceptor wafer 310. The donor wafer 300 with layers 302may have alignment marks (not shown).

As illustrated in FIG. 3C, the donor wafer 300 may be cleaved at orthinned to the layer transfer demarcation plane 399, leaving a portionof the donor wafer 300′ and the pre-processed layers 302 bonded to theacceptor wafer 310, by methods such as, for example, ion-cut or otherlayer transfer methods.

As illustrated in FIG. 3D, the remaining donor wafer portion 300′ may beremoved by polishing or etching and the transferred layers 302 may befurther processed to create donor wafer device structures 350 that maybe precisely aligned to the acceptor wafer alignment marks 390. Donorwafer device structures 350 may include, for example, CMOS transistorssuch as N type and P type transistors, or any of the other transistor ordevice types discussed herein this document. These donor wafer devicestructures 350 may utilize thru layer vias (TLVs) 360 to electricallycouple (connection paths) the donor wafer device structures 350 to theacceptor wafer metal connect pads or strips 380. TLVs 360 may be formedthrough the transferred layers 302. As the transferred layers 302 may bethin, on the order of about 200 nm or less in thickness, the TLVs may beeasily manufactured as a typical metal to metal via may be, and said TLVmay have state of the art diameters such as nanometers or tens to a fewhundreds of nanometers, such as, for example about 150 nm or about 100nm or about 50 nm. The thinner the transferred layers 302, the smallerthe thru layer via diameter obtainable, which may result frommaintaining manufacturable via aspect ratios. Thus, the transferredlayers 302 (and hence, TLVs 360) may be, for example, less than about 2microns thick, less than about 1 micron thick, less than about 0.4microns thick, less than about 200 nm thick, less than about 150 nmthick, or less than about 100 nm thick. The thickness of the layer orlayers transferred according to some embodiments of the invention may bedesigned as such to match and enable the most suitable obtainablelithographic resolution, such as, for example, less than about 10 nm, 14nm, 22 nm or 28 nm linewidth resolution and alignment capability, suchas, for example, less than about 5 nm, 10 nm, 20 nm, or 40 nm alignmentaccuracy/precision/error, of the manufacturing process employed tocreate the thru layer vias or any other structures on the transferredlayer or layers. Transferred layers 302 may be considered to beoverlying the metal layer or layers of acceptor wafer 310. Alignmentmarks in acceptor substrate 310 and/or in transferred layers 302 may beutilized to enable reliable contact to transistors and circuitry intransferred layers 302 and donor wafer device structures 350 andelectrically couple them to the transistors and circuitry in theacceptor substrate 310. The donor wafer 300 may now also be processedand reused for more layer transfers.

There may be multiple methods by which a transistor or other devices maybe formed to enable a 3D IC.

Junction-less Transistors (JLTs) are another transistor family that mayutilize layer transfer and etch definition to construct alow-temperature monolithic 3D IC. The junction-less transistor structureavoids the increasingly sharply graded junctions necessary forsufficient separation between source and drain regions as silicontechnology scales. This allows the JLT to have a thicker gate oxide thana conventional MOSFET for an equivalent performance. The junction-lesstransistor may also be known as a nanowire transistor without junctions,or gated resistor, or nanowire transistor as described in a paper byJean-Pierre Colinge, et. al., (Colinge) published in NatureNanotechnology on Feb. 21, 2010.

As illustrated in FIG. 4 the junction-less transistor may be constructedwhereby the transistor channel may be a thin solid piece of evenly andheavily doped single crystal silicon. Single crystal silicon may also bereferred to as mono-crystalline silicon. The doping concentration of thechannel underneath the gate 406 and gate dielectric 408 may be identicalto that of the source 404 and drain 402. As a result of the high channeldoping, the channel must be thin and narrow enough to allow for fulldepletion of the carriers when the device may be turned off.Additionally, the channel doping must be high enough to allow areasonable current to flow when the device may be on. A multi-sided gatemay provide increased control of the channel. The JLT may have a verysmall channel area (typically less than about 20 nm on one or moresides), so the gate can deplete the channel of charge carriers atapproximately OV and turn the source to drain current substantially off.I-V curves from Colinge of n channel and p channel junction-lesstransistors are shown in FIG. 4. This illustrates that the JLT canobtain comparable performance to the tri-gate transistor (junction-ed)that may be commonly researched and reported by transistor developers.

Turning the channel off with minimal leakage at an approximately zerogate bias may be a major challenge for a junction-less transistordevice. To enhance gate control over the transistor channel, the channelmay be doped unevenly; whereby the heaviest doping may be closest to thegate or gates and the channel doping may be lighter farther away fromthe gate electrode. For example, the cross-sectional center of a 2, 3,or 4 gate sided junction-less transistor channel may be more lightlydoped than the edges. This may enable much lower transistor off currentsfor the same gate work function and control.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B, drain to source current (Ids) as afunction of the gate voltage (Vg) for various junction-less transistorchannel doping levels may be simulated where the total thickness of then-type channel may be about 20 nm. The y-axis of FIG. 5A is plotted aslogarithmic and FIG. 5B as linear. Two of the four curves in each figurecorrespond to evenly doping the 20 nm channel thickness to 1E17 and 1E18atoms/cm3, respectively. The remaining two curves show simulationresults where the 20 nm channel has two layers of 10 nm thickness each.In the legend denotations for the remaining two curves, the first numbercorresponds to the 10 nm portion of the channel that is the closest tothe gate electrode. For example, the curve D=1E18/1E17 illustrates thesimulated results where the 10 nm channel portion doped at 1E18 isclosest to the gate electrode while the 10 nm channel portion doped at1E17 is farthest away from the gate electrode. In FIG. 5A, curves 502and 504 correspond to doping patterns of D=1E18/1E17 and D=1E17/1E18,respectively. According to FIG. 5A, at a Vg of 0 volts, the off currentfor the doping pattern of D=1E18/1E17 is approximately 50 times lowerthan that of the reversed doping pattern of D=1E17/1E18. Likewise, inFIG. 5B, curves 506 and 508 correspond to doping patterns of D=1E18/1E17and D=1E17/1E18, respectively. FIG. 5B illustrates that at a Vg of 1volt, the Ids of both doping patterns are within a few percent of eachother.

The junction-less transistor channel may be constructed with even,graded, or discrete layers of doping. The channel may be constructedwith materials other than doped mono-crystalline silicon, such as, forexample, poly-crystalline silicon, or other semi-conducting, insulating,or conducting material, such as, for example, graphene or othergraphitic material, and may be in combination with other layers ofsimilar or different material. For example, the center of the channelmay include a layer of oxide, or of lightly doped silicon, and the edgesmore heavily doped single crystal silicon. This may enhance the gatecontrol effectiveness for the off state of the resistor, and mayincrease the on-current as a result of strain effects on the other layeror layers in the channel. Strain techniques may be employed fromcovering and insulator material above, below, and surrounding thetransistor channel and gate. Lattice modifiers may be employed to strainthe silicon, such as, for example, an embedded SiGe implantation andanneal. The cross section of the transistor channel may be rectangular,circular, or oval shaped, to enhance the gate control of the channel.Alternatively, to optimize the mobility of the P-channel junction-lesstransistor in the 3D layer transfer method, the donor wafer may berotated with respect to the acceptor wafer prior to bonding tofacilitate the creation of the P-channel in the <110> silicon planedirection or may include other silicon crystal orientations such as<511>.

3D memory device structures may also be constructed in layers ofmono-crystalline silicon and utilize pre-processing a donor wafer byforming wafer sized layers of various materials without a processtemperature restriction, then layer transferring the pre-processed donorwafer to the acceptor wafer, followed by some processing steps, andrepeating this procedure multiple times, and then processing with eitherlow temperature (below approximately 400° C.) or high temperature(greater than approximately 400° C.) after the final layer transfer toform memory device structures, such as, for example, transistors,capacitors, resistors, or memristors, on or in the multiple transferredlayers that may be physically aligned and may be electrically coupled tothe acceptor wafer.

Novel monolithic 3D Dynamic Random Access Memories (DRAMs) may beconstructed in the above manner. Some embodiments of the inventionutilize the floating body DRAM type.

Further details of a floating body DRAM and its operation modes can befound in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,541,616, 7,514,748, 7,499,358, 7,499,352,7,492,632, 7,486,563, 7,477,540, and 7,476,939. Background informationon floating body DRAM and its operation is given in “Floating Body RAMTechnology and its Scalability to 32 nm Node and Beyond,” ElectronDevices Meeting, 2006. IEDM '06. International, vol., no., pp. 1-4,11-13 Dec. 2006 by T. Shino, et. al.; “Overview and future challenges offloating body RAM (FBRAM) technology for 32 nm technology node andbeyond”, Solid-State Electronics, Volume 53, Issue 7; “Papers Selectedfrom the 38th European Solid-State Device ResearchConference”—ESSDERC′08, July 2009, pages 676-683, ISSN 0038-1101, DOI:10.1016/j.sse.2009.030.010 by Takeshi Hamamoto, et al.; “New Generationof Z-RAM,” Electron Devices Meeting, 2007. IEDM 2007. IEEEInternational, vol., no., pp. 925-928, 10-12 Dec. 2007 by Okhonin, S.,et al. Prior art for constructing monolithic 3D DRAMs used planartransistors where crystalline silicon layers were formed with eitherselective epitaxy technology or laser recrystallization. Both selectiveepitaxy technology and laser recrystallization may not provide perfectlymono-crystalline silicon and often may require a high thermal budget. Adescription of these processes is given in the book entitled “IntegratedInterconnect Technologies for 3D Nanoelectronic Systems” by Bakir andMeindl. The contents of these documents are incorporated in thisspecification by reference.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6A to 6L, a horizontally-oriented monolithic 3DDRAM that utilizes zero additional masking steps per memory layer bysharing mask steps after substantially all the layers have beentransferred may be constructed that may be suitable for 3D ICmanufacturing.

As illustrated in FIG. 6A, a silicon substrate with peripheral circuitry602 may be constructed with high temperature (greater than approximately400° C.) resistant wiring, such as, for example, Tungsten. Theperipheral circuitry substrate 602 may include memory control circuitsas well as circuitry for other purposes and of various types, such as,for example, analog, digital, RF, or memory. The peripheral circuitrysubstrate 602 may include peripheral circuits that can withstand anadditional rapid-thermal-anneal (RTA) and still remain operational andretain good performance. For this purpose, the peripheral circuits maybe formed such that they have not been subjected to a weak RTA or no RTAfor activating dopants in anticipation of anneals later in the processflow. The top surface of the peripheral circuitry substrate 602 may beprepared for oxide wafer bonding with a deposition of a silicon oxidelayer 604, thus forming acceptor wafer 614.

As illustrated in FIG. 6B, a mono-crystalline silicon donor wafer 612may be processed to include a wafer sized layer of P− doping (not shown)which may have a different dopant concentration than the P− substrate606. The P− doping layer may be formed by ion implantation and thermalanneal. A screen oxide layer 608 may be grown or deposited prior to theimplant to protect the silicon from implant contamination and to providean oxide surface for later wafer to wafer bonding. A layer transferdemarcation plane 610 (shown as a dashed line) may be formed in donorwafer 612 within the P− substrate 606 or the P− doping layer (not shown)by hydrogen implantation or other methods as previously described. Boththe donor wafer 612 and acceptor wafer 614 may be prepared for waferbonding as previously described and then bonded at the surfaces of oxidelayer 604 and oxide layer 608, for example, at a low temperature (lessthan approximately 400° C.) for lowest stresses, or a moderatetemperature (less than approximately 900° C.).

As illustrated in FIG. 6C, the portion of the P− layer (not shown) andthe P− substrate 606 that may be above the layer transfer demarcationplane 610 may be removed by cleaving and polishing, or other processesas previously described, such as, for example, ion-cut or other methods,thus forming the remaining mono-crystalline silicon P− layer 606′.Remaining P− layer 606′ and oxide layer 608 have been layer transferredto acceptor wafer 614. The top surface of P− layer 606′ may bechemically or mechanically polished smooth and flat. Now transistors orportions of transistors may be formed and aligned to the acceptor wafer614 alignment marks (not shown). Oxide layer 620 may be deposited toprepare the surface for later oxide to oxide bonding. This now forms thefirst Si/SiO2 layer 623 which includes silicon oxide layer 620, P− layer606′, and oxide layer 608.

As illustrated in FIG. 6D, additional Si/SiO2 layers, such as, forexample, second Si/SiO2 layer 625 and third Si/SiO2 layer 627, may eachbe formed as described in FIGS. 6A to 6C. Oxide layer 629 may bedeposited to electrically isolate the top silicon layer.

As illustrated in FIG. 6E, oxide layer 629, third Si/SiO2 layer 627,second Si/SiO2 layer 625 and first Si/SiO2 layer 623 may belithographically defined and plasma/RIE etched to form a portion of thememory cell structure, which may include regions of P− silicon 616 andoxide 622.

As illustrated in FIG. 6F, a gate dielectric and gate electrode materialmay be deposited, planarized with a chemical mechanical polish (CMP),and then lithographically defined and plasma/RIE etched to form gatedielectric regions 628 which may either be self-aligned to andsubstantially covered by gate electrodes 630 (shown), or substantiallycover the entire silicon/oxide multi-layer structure. The gate stackincluding gate electrode 630 and gate dielectric regions 628 may beformed with a gate dielectric, such as, for example, thermal oxide, anda gate electrode material, such as, for example, poly-crystallinesilicon. Alternatively, the gate dielectric may be an atomic layerdeposited (ALD) material that may be paired with a work functionspecific gate metal in the industry standard high k metal gate processschemes described previously. Further, the gate dielectric may be formedwith a rapid thermal oxidation (RTO), a low temperature oxide depositionor low temperature microwave plasma oxidation of the silicon surfacesand then a gate electrode such as, for example, tungsten or aluminum maybe deposited.

As illustrated in FIG. 6G, N+ silicon regions 626 may be formed in aself-aligned manner to the gate electrodes 630 by ion implantation of anN type species, such as, for example, Arsenic, into the portions of P−silicon regions 616 that may not be blocked by the gate electrodes 630.This forms remaining regions of P− silicon 617 (not shown) in the gateelectrode 630 blocked areas. Different implant energies or angles, ormultiples of each, may be utilized to place the N type species into eachlayer of P− silicon regions 616. Spacers (not shown) may be utilizedduring this multi-step implantation process and layers of siliconpresent in different layers of the stack may have different spacerwidths to account for the differing lateral straggle of N type speciesimplants. Bottom layers, such as, for example, first Si/SiO2 layer 623,could have larger spacer widths than top layers, such as, for example,third Si/SiO2 layer 627. Alternatively, angular ion implantation withsubstrate rotation may be utilized to compensate for the differingimplant straggle. The top layer implantation may have a steeper anglethan perpendicular to the wafer surface and hence land ions slightlyunderneath the gate electrode 630 edges and closely match a moreperpendicular lower layer implantation which may land ions slightlyunderneath the gate electrode 630 edge as a result of the straggleeffects of the greater implant energy necessary to reach the lowerlayer. A rapid thermal anneal (RTA) may be conducted to activate thedopants in substantially all of the memory layers 623, 625, 627 and inthe peripheral circuitry substrate 602. Alternatively, optical anneals,such as, for example, a laser based anneal, may be performed.

As illustrated in FIG. 6H, the entire structure may be substantiallycovered with a gap fill oxide 632, which be planarized with chemicalmechanical polishing. The oxide 632 is shown transparent in the figurefor clarity. Word-line regions (WL) 650, coupled with and composed ofgate electrodes 630, and source-line regions (SL) 652, composed ofindicated N+ silicon regions 626, are shown.

As illustrated in FIG. 6I, bit-line (BL) contacts 634 may belithographically defined, etched with plasma/RIE, photoresist removed,and then metal, such as, for example, copper, aluminum, or tungsten, maybe deposited to fill the contact and etched or polished to the top ofoxide 632. Each BL contact 634 may be shared among substantially alllayers of memory, shown as three layers of memory in FIG. 6I. A thrulayer via (not shown) may be formed to electrically couple the BL, SL,and WL metallization to the acceptor wafer 614 peripheral circuitry viaan acceptor wafer metal connect pad (not shown).

As illustrated in FIG. 6J, BL metal lines 636 may be formed and connectto the associated BL contacts 634. Contacts and associated metalinterconnect lines (not shown) may be formed for the WL and SL at thememory array edges.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6K, 6K1 and 6K2, cross section cut II of FIG. 6Kis shown in FIG. 6K1, and cross section cut III of FIG. 6K is shown inFIG. 6K2. BL metal lines 636, oxide 632, BL contact 634, WL regions 650,gate dielectric regions 628, N+ silicon regions 626, P− silicon regions617, and peripheral circuitry substrate 602 are shown in FIG. 6K1. TheBL contact 634 couples to one side of the three levels of floating bodytransistors that may include two N+ silicon regions 626 in each levelwith their associated P− silicon region 617. BL metal lines 636, oxide632, gate electrode 630, gate dielectric regions 628, P− silicon regions617, interlayer oxide region (‘ox’), and peripheral circuitry substrate602 are shown in FIG. 6K2. The gate electrode 630 may be common tosubstantially all six P− silicon regions 617 and forms six two-sidedgated floating body transistors.

As illustrated in FIG. 6L, a single exemplary floating body two gatetransistor on the first Si/SiO2 layer 623 may include P− silicon region617 (functioning as the floating body transistor channel), N+ siliconregions 626 (functioning as source and drain), and two gate electrodes630 with associated gate dielectric regions 628. The transistor may beelectrically isolated from beneath by oxide layer 608.

This flow enables the formation of a horizontally-oriented monolithic 3DDRAM that utilizes zero additional masking steps per memory layer andmay be constructed by layer transfers of wafer sized dopedmono-crystalline silicon layers and may be connected to an underlyingmulti-metal layer semiconductor device.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that theillustrations in FIGS. 6A through 6L are exemplary only and are notdrawn to scale. Such skilled persons will further appreciate that manyvariations are possible such as, for example, the transistors may be ofanother type such as RCATs, or junction-less. Additionally, the contactsmay utilize doped poly-crystalline silicon, or other conductivematerials. Moreover, the stacked memory layer may be connected to aperiphery circuit that may be above the memory stack. Further, each gateof the double gate 3D DRAM can be independently controlled for increasedcontrol of the memory cell. Many other modifications within the scope ofthe invention will suggest themselves to such skilled persons afterreading this specification. Thus the invention is to be limited only bythe appended claims.

Novel monolithic 3D memory technologies utilizing material resistancechanges may be constructed in a similar manner. There are many types ofresistance-based memories including phase change memory, Metal Oxidememory, resistive RAM (RRAM), memristors, solid-electrolyte memory,ferroelectric RAM, and MRAM. Background information on theseresistive-memory types is given in “Overview of candidate devicetechnologies for storage-class memory,” IBM Journal of Research andDevelopment, vol. 52, no. 4.5, pp. 449-464, July 2008 by Burr, G. W., etal. The contents of this document are incorporated in this specificationby reference.

As illustrated in FIGS. 7A to 7K, a resistance-based zero additionalmasking steps per memory layer 3D memory may be constructed that may besuitable for 3D IC manufacturing. This 3D memory utilizes junction-lesstransistors and may have a resistance-based memory element in serieswith a select or access transistor.

As illustrated in FIG. 7A, a silicon substrate with peripheral circuitry702 may be constructed with high temperature (greater than approximately400° C.) resistant wiring, such as, for example, Tungsten. Theperipheral circuitry substrate 702 may include memory control circuitsas well as circuitry for other purposes and of various types, such as,for example, analog, digital, RF, or memory. The peripheral circuitrysubstrate 702 may include peripheral circuits that can withstand anadditional rapid-thermal-anneal (RTA) and still remain operational andretain good performance. For this purpose, the peripheral circuits maybe formed such that they have not been subjected to a weak RTA or no RTAfor activating dopants in anticipation of anneals later in the processflow. The top surface of the peripheral circuitry substrate 702 may beprepared for oxide wafer bonding with a deposition of a silicon oxidelayer 704, thus forming acceptor wafer 714.

As illustrated in FIG. 7B, a mono-crystalline silicon donor wafer 712may be processed to include a wafer sized layer of N+ doping (not shown)which may have a different dopant concentration than the N+ substrate706. The N+ doping layer may be formed by ion implantation and thermalanneal. A screen oxide layer 708 may be grown or deposited prior to theimplant to protect the silicon from implant contamination and to providean oxide surface for later wafer to wafer bonding. A layer transferdemarcation plane 710 (shown as a dashed line) may be formed in donorwafer 712 within the N+ substrate 706 or the N+ doping layer (not shown)by hydrogen implantation or other methods as previously described. Boththe donor wafer 712 and acceptor wafer 714 may be prepared for waferbonding as previously described and then bonded at the surfaces of oxidelayer 704 and oxide layer 708, for example, at a low temperature (lessthan approximately 400° C.) for lowest stresses, or a moderatetemperature (less than approximately 900° C.).

As illustrated in FIG. 7C, the portion of the N+ layer (not shown) andthe N+ wafer substrate 706 that may be above the layer transferdemarcation plane 710 may be removed by cleaving and polishing, or otherprocesses as previously described, such as, for example, ion-cut orother methods, thus forming the remaining mono-crystalline silicon N+layer 706′. Remaining N+ layer 706′ and oxide layer 708 have been layertransferred to acceptor wafer 714. The top surface of N+ layer 706′ maybe chemically or mechanically polished smooth and flat. Now transistorsor portions of transistors may be formed and aligned to the acceptorwafer 714 alignment marks (not shown). Oxide layer 720 may be depositedto prepare the surface for later oxide to oxide bonding. This now formsthe first Si/SiO2 layer 723 which includes silicon oxide layer 720, N+silicon layer 706′, and oxide layer 708.

As illustrated in FIG. 7D, additional Si/SiO2 layers, such as, forexample, second Si/SiO2 layer 725 and third Si/SiO2 layer 727, may eachbe formed as described in FIGS. 7A to 7C. Oxide layer 729 may bedeposited to electrically isolate the top N+ silicon layer.

As illustrated in FIG. 7E, oxide layer 729, third Si/SiO2 layer 727,second Si/SiO2 layer 725 and first Si/SiO2 layer 723 may belithographically defined and plasma/RIE etched to form a portion of thememory cell structure, which now includes regions of N+ silicon 726 andoxide 722.

As illustrated in FIG. 7F, a gate dielectric and gate electrode materialmay be deposited, planarized with a chemical mechanical polish (CMP),and then lithographically defined and plasma/RIE etched to form gatedielectric regions 728 which may either be self-aligned to andsubstantially covered by gate electrodes 730 (shown), or substantiallycover the entire N+ silicon 726 and oxide 722 multi-layer structure. Thegate stack including gate electrodes 730 and gate dielectric regions 728may be formed with a gate dielectric, such as, for example, thermaloxide, and a gate electrode material, such as, for example,poly-crystalline silicon. Alternatively, the gate dielectric may be anatomic layer deposited (ALD) material that may be paired with a workfunction specific gate metal in the industry standard high k metal gateprocess schemes described previously. Further, the gate dielectric maybe formed with a rapid thermal oxidation (RTO), a low temperature oxidedeposition or low temperature microwave plasma oxidation of the siliconsurfaces and then a gate electrode such as, for example, tungsten oraluminum may be deposited.

As illustrated in FIG. 7G, the entire structure may be substantiallycovered with a gap fill oxide 732, which may be planarized with chemicalmechanical polishing. The oxide 732 is shown transparent in the figurefor clarity. Word-line regions (WL) 750, coupled with and composed ofgate electrodes 730, and source-line regions (SL) 752, composed of N+silicon regions 726, are shown.

As illustrated in FIG. 7H, bit-line (BL) contacts 734 may belithographically defined, etched with plasma/RIE through oxide 732, thethree N+ silicon regions 726, and associated oxide vertical isolationregions to connect substantially all memory layers vertically, andphotoresist removed. Resistance change material 738, such as, forexample, hafnium oxide, may then be deposited, for example, with atomiclayer deposition (ALD). The electrode for the resistance change memoryelement may then be deposited by ALD to form the electrode/BL contact734. The excess deposited material may be polished to planarity at orbelow the top of oxide 732. Each BL contact 734 with resistive changematerial 738 may be shared among substantially all layers of memory,shown as three layers of memory in FIG. 7H.

As illustrated in FIG. 7I, BL metal lines 736 may be formed and connectto the associated BL contacts 734 with resistive change material 738.Contacts and associated metal interconnect lines (not shown) may beformed for the WL and SL at the memory array edges. A thru layer via(not shown) may be formed to electrically couple the BL, SL, and WLmetallization to the acceptor wafer 714 peripheral circuitry via anacceptor wafer metal connect pad (not shown).

As illustrated in FIGS. 7J, 7J1 and 7J2, cross section cut II of FIG. 7Jis shown in FIG. 7J1, and cross section cut III of FIG. 7J is shown inFIG. 7J2. BL metal lines 736, oxide 732, BL contact/electrode 2534,resistive change material 738, WL regions 750, gate dielectric regions728, N+ silicon regions 726, and peripheral circuitry substrate 702 areshown in FIG. 7J1. The BL contact/electrode 2534 couples to one side ofthe three levels of resistive change material 738. The other side of theresistive change material 738 may be coupled to N+ regions 726. BL metallines 736, oxide 732, gate electrodes 730, gate dielectric regions 728,N+ silicon regions 726, interlayer oxide region (‘ox’), and peripheralcircuitry substrate 702 are shown in FIG. 7J2. The gate electrode 730may be common to substantially all six N+ silicon regions 726 and formssix two-sided gated junction-less transistors as memory selecttransistors.

As illustrated in FIG. 7K, a single exemplary two-sided gatedjunction-less transistor on the first Si/SiO2 layer 723 may include N+silicon region 726 (functioning as the source, drain, and transistorchannel), and two gate electrodes 730 with associated gate dielectricregions 728. The transistor may be electrically isolated from beneath byoxide layer 708.

This flow enables the formation of a resistance-based multi-layer or 3Dmemory array with zero additional masking steps per memory layer, whichutilizes junction-less transistors and may have a resistance-basedmemory element in series with a select transistor, and may beconstructed by layer transfers of wafer sized doped mono-crystallinesilicon layers, and this 3D memory array may be connected to anunderlying multi-metal layer semiconductor device.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that theillustrations in FIGS. 7A through 7K are exemplary only and are notdrawn to scale. Such skilled persons will further appreciate that manyvariations are possible such as, for example, the transistors may be ofanother type such as RCATs. Additionally, doping of each N+ layer may beslightly different to compensate for interconnect resistances. Moreover,the stacked memory layer may be connected to a periphery circuit thatmay be above the memory stack. Further, each gate of the double gate 3Dresistance based memory can be independently controlled for increasedcontrol of the memory cell. Many other modifications within the scope ofthe invention will suggest themselves to such skilled persons afterreading this specification. Thus the invention is to be limited only bythe appended claims.

The monolithic 3D integration concepts described in this patentapplication can lead to novel embodiments of poly-crystalline siliconbased memory architectures. While the below concepts in FIG. 8 areexplained by using resistive memory architectures as an example, it willbe clear to one skilled in the art that similar concepts can be appliedto the NAND flash, charge trap, and DRAM memory architectures andprocess flows described previously in this patent application andincorporated by reference co-owned applications.

As illustrated in FIGS. 8A to 8K, a resistance-based 3D memory with zeroadditional masking steps per memory layer may be constructed withmethods that may be suitable for 3D IC manufacturing. This 3D memoryutilizes poly-crystalline silicon junction-less transistors that mayhave either a positive or a negative threshold voltage and may have aresistance-based memory element in series with a select or accesstransistor.

As illustrated in FIG. 8A, a silicon substrate with peripheral circuitry802 may be constructed with high temperature (greater than approximately400° C.) resistant wiring, such as, for example, Tungsten. Theperipheral circuitry substrate 802 may include memory control circuitsas well as circuitry for other purposes and of various types, such as,for example, analog, digital, RF, or memory. The peripheral circuitrysubstrate 802 may include peripheral circuits that can withstand anadditional rapid-thermal-anneal (RTA) and still remain operational andretain good performance. For this purpose, the peripheral circuits maybe formed such that they have not been subjected to a weak RTA or no RTAfor activating dopants. Silicon oxide layer 804 may be deposited on thetop surface of the peripheral circuitry substrate.

As illustrated in FIG. 8B, a layer of N+ doped poly-crystalline oramorphous silicon 806 may be deposited. The amorphous silicon orpoly-crystalline silicon layer 806 may be deposited using a chemicalvapor deposition process, such as, for example, LPCVD or PECVD, or otherprocess methods, and may be deposited doped with N+ dopants, such as,for example, Arsenic or Phosphorous, or may be deposited un-doped andsubsequently doped with, such as, for example, ion implantation or PLAD(PLasma Assisted Doping) techniques. Silicon Oxide 820 may then bedeposited or grown. This now forms the first Si/SiO2 layer 823 whichincludes N+ doped poly-crystalline or amorphous silicon layer 806 andsilicon oxide layer 820.

As illustrated in FIG. 8C, additional Si/SiO2 layers, such as, forexample, second Si/SiO2 layer 825 and third Si/SiO2 layer 827, may eachbe formed as described in FIG. 8B. Oxide layer 829 may be deposited toelectrically isolate the top N+ doped poly-crystalline or amorphoussilicon layer.

As illustrated in FIG. 8D, a Rapid Thermal Anneal (RTA) may be conductedto crystallize the N+ doped poly-crystalline silicon or amorphoussilicon layers 806 of first Si/SiO2 layer 823, second Si/SiO2 layer 825,and third Si/SiO2 layer 827, forming crystallized N+ silicon layers 816.Temperatures during this RTA may be as high as approximately 800° C.Alternatively, an optical anneal, such as, for example, a laser anneal,could be performed alone or in combination with the RTA or otherannealing processes.

As illustrated in FIG. 8E, oxide layer 829, third Si/SiO2 layer 827,second Si/SiO2 layer 825 and first Si/SiO2 layer 823 may belithographically defined and plasma/RIE etched to form a portion of thememory cell structure, which now includes multiple layers of regions ofcrystallized N+ silicon 826 (previously crystallized N+ silicon layers816) and oxide 822.

As illustrated in FIG. 8F, a gate dielectric and gate electrode materialmay be deposited, planarized with a chemical mechanical polish (CMP),and then lithographically defined and plasma/RIE etched to form gatedielectric regions 828 which may either be self-aligned to andsubstantially covered by gate electrodes 830 (shown), or substantiallycover the entire crystallized N+ silicon regions 826 and oxide regions822 multi-layer structure. The gate stack may include gate electrodes830 and gate dielectric regions 828, and may be formed with a gatedielectric, such as, for example, thermal oxide, and a gate electrodematerial, such as, for example, poly-crystalline silicon. Alternatively,the gate dielectric may be an atomic layer deposited (ALD) material thatmay be paired with a work function specific gate metal in the industrystandard high k metal gate process schemes described previously.Further, the gate dielectric may be formed with a rapid thermaloxidation (RTO), a low temperature oxide deposition or low temperaturemicrowave plasma oxidation of the silicon surfaces and then a gateelectrode such as, for example, tungsten or aluminum may be deposited.

As illustrated in FIG. 8G, the entire structure may be substantiallycovered with a gap fill oxide 832, which may be planarized with chemicalmechanical polishing. The oxide 832 is shown transparently in the figurefor clarity. Word-line regions (WL) 850, coupled with and composed ofgate electrodes 830, and source-line regions (SL) 852, composed ofcrystallized N+ silicon regions 826, are shown.

As illustrated in FIG. 8H, bit-line (BL) contacts 834 may belithographically defined, etched with plasma/RIE through oxide 832, thethree crystallized N+ silicon regions 826, and associated oxide verticalisolation regions to connect substantially all memory layers vertically,and photoresist removed. Resistance change material 838, such as, forexample, hafnium oxides or titanium oxides, may then be deposited, forexample, with atomic layer deposition (ALD). The electrode for theresistance change memory element may then be deposited by ALD to formthe electrode/BL contact 834. The excess deposited material may bepolished to planarity at or below the top of oxide 832. Each BL contact834 with resistive change material 838 may be shared among substantiallyall layers of memory, shown as three layers of memory in FIG. 8H.

As illustrated in FIG. 8I, BL metal lines 836 may be formed and connectto the associated BL contacts 834 with resistive change material 838.Contacts and associated metal interconnect lines (not shown) may beformed for the WL and SL at the memory array edges. Thru layer vias (notshown) may be formed to electrically couple the BL, SL, and WLmetallization to the acceptor substrate peripheral circuitry viaacceptor wafer metal connect pads (not shown).

As illustrated in FIGS. 8J, 8J1 and 8J2, cross section cut II of FIG. 8Jis shown in FIG. 8J1, and cross section cut III of FIG. 8J is shown inFIG. 8J2. BL metal line 836, oxide 832, BL contact/electrode 4934,resistive change material 838, WL regions 850, gate dielectric regions828, crystallized N+ silicon regions 826, and peripheral circuitrysubstrate 802 are shown in FIG. 8J1. The BL contact/electrode 4934couples to one side of the three levels of resistive change material838. The other side of the resistive change material 838 may be coupledto crystallized N+ regions 826. BL metal lines 836, oxide 832, gateelectrode 830, gate dielectric regions 828, crystallized N+ siliconregions 826, interlayer oxide region (‘ox’), and peripheral circuitrysubstrate 802 are shown in FIG. 8J2. The gate electrode 830 may becommon to substantially all six crystallized N+ silicon regions 826 andforms six two-sided gated junction-less transistors as memory selecttransistors.

As illustrated in FIG. 8K, a single exemplary two-sided gatedjunction-less transistor on the first Si/SiO2 layer 823 may includecrystallized N+ silicon region 826 (functioning as the source, drain,and transistor channel), and two gate electrodes 830 with associatedgate dielectric regions 828. The transistor may be electrically isolatedfrom beneath by oxide layer 808.

This flow enables the formation of a resistance-based multi-layer or 3Dmemory array with zero additional masking steps per memory layer, whichutilizes poly-crystalline silicon junction-less transistors and may havea resistance-based memory element in series with a select transistor,and may be constructed by layer transfers of wafer sized dopedpoly-crystalline silicon layers, and this 3D memory array may beconnected to an underlying multi-metal layer semiconductor device.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that theillustrations in FIGS. 8A through 8K are exemplary only and are notdrawn to scale. Such skilled persons will further appreciate that manyvariations are possible such as, for example, the RTAs and/or opticalanneals of the N+ doped poly-crystalline or amorphous silicon layers 806as described for FIG. 8D may be performed after each Si/SiO2 layer isformed in FIG. 8C. Additionally, N+ doped poly-crystalline or amorphoussilicon layers 806 may be doped P+, or with a combination of dopants andother polysilicon network modifiers to enhance the RTA or opticalannealing and subsequent crystallization and lower the N+ silicon layer816 resistivity. Moreover, the doping of each crystallized N+ layer maybe slightly different to compensate for interconnect resistances.Further, each gate of the double gated 3D resistance based memory may beindependently controlled for increased control of the memory cell. Manyother modifications within the scope of the invention will suggestthemselves to such skilled persons after reading this specification.Thus the invention is to be limited only by the appended claims.

Some embodiments of the invention may include alternative techniques tobuild IC (Integrated Circuit) devices including techniques and methodsto construct 3D IC systems. Some embodiments of the invention may enabledevice solutions with far less power consumption than prior art. Thesedevice solutions could be very useful for the growing application ofmobile electronic devices and mobile systems such as, for example,mobile phones, smart phone, and cameras, those mobile systems may alsoconnect to the internet. For example, incorporating the 3D ICsemiconductor devices according to some embodiments of the inventionwithin these mobile electronic devices and mobile systems could providesuperior mobile units that could operate much more efficiently and for amuch longer time than with prior art technology.

Smart mobile systems may be greatly enhanced by complex electronics at alimited power budget. The 3D technology described in the multipleembodiments of the invention would allow the construction of low powerhigh complexity mobile electronic systems. For example, it would bepossible to integrate into a small form function a complex logic circuitwith high density high speed memory utilizing some of the 3D DRAMembodiments of the invention and add some non-volatile 3D NAND chargetrap or RRAM described in some embodiments of the invention.

In U.S. application Ser. No. 12/903,862, filed by some of the inventorsand assigned to the same assignee, a 3D micro display and a 3D imagesensor are presented. Integrating one or both of these with complexlogic and or memory could be very effective for mobile system.Additionally, mobile systems could be customized to some specific marketapplications by integrating some embodiments of the invention.

Moreover, utilizing 3D programmable logic or 3D gate array as had beendescribed in some embodiments of the invention could be very effectivein forming flexible mobile systems.

The need to reduce power to allow effective use of limited batteryenergy and also the lightweight and small form factor derived by highlyintegrating functions with low waste of interconnect and substrate couldbe highly benefitted by the redundancy and repair idea of the 3Dmonolithic technology as has been presented in embodiments of theinvention. This unique technology could enable a mobile device thatwould be lower cost to produce or would require lower power to operateor would provide a lower size or lighter carry weight, and combinationsof these 3D monolithic technology features may provide a competitive ordesirable mobile system.

Another unique market that may be addressed by some of the embodimentsof the invention could be a street corner camera with supportingelectronics. The 3D image sensor described in the Ser. No. 12/903,862application would be very effective for day/night and multi-spectrumsurveillance applications. The 3D image sensor could be supported byintegrated logic and memory such as, for example, a monolithic 3D ICwith a combination of image processing and image compression logic andmemory, both high speed memory such as 3D DRAM and high densitynon-volatile memory such as 3D NAND or RRAM or other memory, and othercombinations. This street corner camera application would require lowpower, low cost, and low size or any combination of these features, andcould be highly benefitted from the 3D technologies described herein.

3D ICs according to some embodiments of the invention could enableelectronic and semiconductor devices with much a higher performance as aresult from the shorter interconnect as well as semiconductor deviceswith far more complexity via multiple levels of logic and providing theability to repair or use redundancy. The achievable complexity of thesemiconductor devices according to some embodiments of the inventioncould far exceed what may be practical with the prior art technology.These potential advantages could lead to more powerful computer systemsand improved systems that have embedded computers.

Some embodiments of the invention may enable the design of state of theart electronic systems at a greatly reduced non-recurring engineering(NRE) cost by the use of high density 3D FPGAs or various forms of 3Darray based ICs with reduced custom masks as described herein. Thesesystems could be deployed in many products and in many market segments.Reduction of the NRE may enable new product family or applicationdevelopment and deployment early in the product lifecycle by loweringthe risk of upfront investment prior to a market being developed. Theabove potential advantages may also be provided by various mixes such asreduced NRE using generic masks for layers of logic and other genericmasks for layers of memories and building a very complex system usingthe repair technology to overcome the inherent yield difficulties.Another form of mix could be building a 3D FPGA and add on it 3D layersof customizable logic and memory so the end system could have fieldprogrammable logic on top of the factory customized logic. There may bemany ways to mix the many innovative elements to form 3D IC to supportthe needs of an end system, including using multiple devices whereinmore than one device incorporates elements of embodiments of theinvention. An end system could benefit from a memory devices utilizingthe 3D memory of some embodiments of the invention together with highperformance 3D FPGA of some of the embodiments of the invention togetherwith high density 3D logic and so forth. Using devices that can use oneor multiple elements according to some embodiments of the invention mayallow for increased performance or lower power and other potentialadvantages resulting from the use of some embodiments of the inventionsto provide the end system with a competitive edge. Such end system couldbe electronic based products or other types of systems that may includesome level of embedded electronics, such as, for example, cars andremote controlled vehicles.

Commercial wireless mobile communications have been developed for almostthirty years, and play a special role in today's information andcommunication technology Industries. The mobile wireless terminal devicehas become part of our life, as well as the Internet, and the mobilewireless terminal device may continue to have a more important role on aworldwide basis. Currently, mobile (wireless) phones are undergoing muchdevelopment to provide advanced functionality. The mobile phone networkis a network such as a GSM, GPRS, or WCDMA, 3G and 4G standards, and thenetwork may allow mobile phones to communicate with each other. The basestation may be for transmitting (and receiving) information to themobile phone.

A typical mobile phone system may include, for example, a processor, aflash memory, a static random access memory, a display, a removablememory, a radio frequency (RF) receiver/transmitter, an analog base band(ABB), a digital base band (DBB), an image sensor, a high-speedbi-directional interface, a keypad, a microphone, and a speaker. Atypical mobile phone system may include a multiplicity of an element,for example, two or more static random access memories, two or moredisplays, two or more RF receiver/transmitters, and so on.

Conventional radios used in wireless communications, such as radios usedin conventional cellular telephones, typically may include severaldiscrete RF circuit components. Some receiver architectures may employsuperhetrodyne techniques. In a superhetrodyne architecture an incomingsignal may be frequency translated from its radio frequency (RF) to alower intermediate frequency (IF). The signal at IF may be subsequentlytranslated to baseband where further digital signal processing ordemodulation may take place. Receiver designs may have multiple IFstages. The reason for using such a frequency translation scheme is thatcircuit design at the lower IF frequency may be more manageable forsignal processing. It is at these IF frequencies that the selectivity ofthe receiver may be implemented, automatic gain control (AGC) may beintroduced, etc.

A mobile phone's need of a high-speed data communication capability inaddition to a speech communication capability has increased in recentyears. In GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), one of EuropeanMobile Communications Standards, GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) hasbeen developed for speeding up data communication by allowing aplurality of time slot transmissions for one time slot transmission inthe GSM with the multiplexing TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)architecture. EDGE (Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution) architectureprovides faster communications over GPRS.

4th Generation (4G) mobile systems aim to provide broadband wirelessaccess with nominal data rates of 100 Mbit/s. 4G systems may be based onthe 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) cellular standard, WiMax orFlash-OFDM wireless metropolitan area network technologies. The radiointerface in these systems may be based on all-IP packet switching, MIMOdiversity, multi-carrier modulation schemes, Dynamic Channel Assignment(DCA) and channel-dependent scheduling.

Prior art such as U.S. application Ser. No. 12/871,984 may provide adescription of a mobile device and its block-diagram.

It is understood that the use of specific component, device and/orparameter names (such as those of the executing utility/logic describedherein) are for example only and not meant to imply any limitations onthe invention. The invention may thus be implemented with differentnomenclature/terminology utilized to describe thecomponents/devices/parameters herein, without limitation. Each termutilized herein is to be given its broadest interpretation given thecontext in which that term is utilized. For example, as utilized herein,the following terms are generally defined:

(1) Mobile computing/communication device (MCD): is a device that may bea mobile communication device, such as a cell phone, or a mobilecomputer that performs wired and/or wireless communication via aconnected wireless/wired network. In some embodiments, the MCD mayinclude a combination of the functionality associated with both types ofdevices within a single standard device (e.g., a smart phones orpersonal digital assistant (PDA)) for use as both a communication deviceand a computing device.

A block diagram representation of an exemplary mobile computing device(MCD) is illustrated in FIG. 9, within which several of the features ofthe described embodiments may be implemented. MCD 900 may be a desktopcomputer, a portable computing device, such as a laptop, personaldigital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, and/or other types of electronicdevices that may generally be considered processing devices. Asillustrated, MCD 900 may include at least one processor or centralprocessing unit (CPU) 902 which may be connected to system memory 906via system interconnect/bus 904. CPU 902 may include at least onedigital signal processing unit (DSP). Also connected to systeminterconnect/bus 904 may be input/output (I/O) controller 915, which mayprovide connectivity and control for input devices, of which pointingdevice (or mouse) 916 and keyboard 917 are illustrated. I/O controller915 may also provide connectivity and control for output devices, ofwhich display 918 is illustrated. Additionally, a multimedia drive 919(e.g., compact disk read/write (CDRW) or digital video disk (DVD) drive)and USB (universal serial bus) port 920 are illustrated, and may becoupled to I/O controller 915. Multimedia drive 919 and USB port 920 mayenable insertion of a removable storage device (e.g., optical disk or“thumb” drive) on which data/instructions/code may be stored and/or fromwhich data/instructions/code may be retrieved. MCD 900 may also includestorage 922, within/from which data/instructions/code may also bestored/retrieved. MCD 900 may further include a global positioningsystem (GPS) or local position system (LPS) detection component 924 bywhich MCD 900 may be able to detect its current location (e.g., ageographical position) and movement of MCD 900, in real time. MCD 900may include a network/communication interface 925, by which MCD 900 mayconnect to one or more second communication devices 932 or to wirelessservice provider server 937, or to a third party server 938 via one ormore access/external communication networks, of which a wirelessCommunication Network 930 is provided as one example and the Internet936 is provided as a second example. It is appreciated that MCD 900 mayconnect to third party server 938 through an initial connection withCommunication Network 930, which in turn may connect to third partyserver 938 via the Internet 936.

In addition to the above described hardware components of MCD 900,various features of the described embodiments may be completed/supportedvia software (or firmware) code or logic stored within system memory 906or other storage (e.g., storage 922) and may be executed by CPU 902.Thus, for example, illustrated within system memory 906 are a number ofsoftware/firmware/logic components, including operating system (OS) 908(e.g., Microsoft Windows® or Windows Mobile®, trademarks of MicrosoftCorp, or GNU®/Linux®, registered trademarks of the Free SoftwareFoundation and The Linux Mark Institute, and AIX®, registered trademarkof International Business Machines), and (word processing and/or other)application(s) 909. Also illustrated are a plurality (four illustrated)software implemented utilities, each providing different one of thevarious functions (or advanced features) described herein. Includingwithin these various functional utilities are: Simultaneous Text Waiting(STW) utility 911, Dynamic Area Code Pre-pending (DACP) utility 912,Advanced Editing and Interfacing (AEI) utility 912 and Safe TextingDevice Usage (STDU) utility 914. In actual implementation and forsimplicity in the following descriptions, each of these differentfunctional utilities are assumed to be packaged together assub-components of a general MCD utility 910, and the various utilitiesare interchangeably referred to as MCD utility 910 when describing theutilities within the figures and claims. For simplicity, the followingdescription will refer to a single utility, namely MCD utility 910. MCDutility 910 may, in some embodiments, be combined with one or more othersoftware modules, including for example, word processing application(s)909 and/or OS 908 to provide a single executable component, which thenmay provide the collective functions of each individual softwarecomponent when the corresponding combined code of the single executablecomponent is executed by CPU 902. Each separate utility 111/112/113/114is illustrated and described as a standalone or separatesoftware/firmware component/module, which provides specific functions,as described below. As a standalone component/module, MCD utility 910may be acquired as an off-the-shelf or after-market or downloadableenhancement to existing program applications or device functions, suchas voice call waiting functionality (not shown) and user interactiveapplications with editable content, such as, for example, an applicationwithin the Windows Mobile® suite of applications. In at least oneimplementation, MCD utility 910 may be downloaded from a server orwebsite of a wireless provider (e.g., wireless service provider server937) or a third party server 938, and either installed on MCD 900 orexecuted from the wireless service provider server 937 or third partyserver 913.

CPU 902 may execute MCD utility 910 as well as OS 908, which, in oneembodiment, may support the user interface features of MCD utility 910,such as generation of a graphical user interface (GUI), whererequired/supported within MCD utility code. In several of the describedembodiments, MCD utility 910 may generate/provide one or more GUIs toenable user interaction with, or manipulation of, functional features ofMCD utility 910 and/or of MCD 900. MCD utility 910 may, in certainembodiments, enable certain hardware and firmware functions and may thusbe generally referred to as MCD logic.

Some of the functions supported and/or provided by MCD utility 910 maybe enabled as processing code/instructions/logic executing on DSP/CPU902 and/or other device hardware, and the processor thus may completethe implementation of those function(s). Among, for example, thesoftware code/instructions/logic provided by MCD utility 910, and whichare specific to some of the described embodiments of the invention, maybe code/logic for performing several (one or a plurality) of thefollowing functions: (1) Simultaneous texting during ongoing voicecommunication providing a text waiting mode for both single numbermobile communication devices and multiple number mobile communicationdevices; (2) Dynamic area code determination and automatic back-fillingof area codes when a requested/desired voice or text communication isinitiated without the area code while the mobile communication device isoutside of its home-base area code toll area; (3) Enhanced editingfunctionality for applications on mobile computing devices; (4)Automatic toggle from manual texting mode to voice-to-text basedcommunication mode on detection of high velocity movement of the mobilecommunication device; and (5) Enhanced e-mail notification systemproviding advanced e-mail notification via (sender or recipientdirected) texting to a mobile communication device.

Utilizing monolithic 3D IC technology described herein and in relatedapplication Ser. Nos. 12/903,862, 12/903,847, 12/904,103 and 13/041,405significant power and cost could be saved. Most of the elements in MCD900 could be integrated in one 3D IC. Some of the MCD 900 elements maybe logic functions which could utilize monolithic 3D transistors suchas, for example, RCAT or Gate-Last. Some of the MCD 900 elements arestorage devices and could be integrated on a 3D non-volatile memorydevice, such as, for example, 3D NAND or 3D RRAM, or volatile memorysuch as, for example, 3D DRAM or SRAM formed from RCAT or gate-lasttransistors, as been described herein. Storage 922 elements formed inmonolithic 3D could be integrated on top or under a logic layer toreduce power and space. Keyboard 917 could be integrated as a touchscreen or combination of image sensor and some light projection andcould utilize structures described in some of the above mentionedrelated applications. The network/communication interface 925 couldutilize another layer of silicon optimized for RF and gigahertz speedanalog circuits or even may be integrated on substrates, such as GaN,that may be a better fit for such circuits. As more and more transistorsmight be integrated to achieve a high complexity 3D IC system theremight be a need to use some embodiments of the invention such as whatwere called repair and redundancy so to achieve good product yield.

Some of the system elements including non-mobile elements, such as the3rd Party Server 938, might also make use of some embodiments of the 3DIC inventions including repair and redundancy to achieve good productyield for high complexity and large integration. Such large integrationmay reduce power and cost of the end product which is most attractiveand most desired by the system end-use customers.

Some embodiments of the 3D IC invention could be used to integrate manyof the MCD 900 blocks or elements into one or a few devices. As variousblocks get tightly integrated, much of the power required to transfersignals between these elements may be reduced and similarly costsassociated with these connections may be saved. Form factor may becompacted as the space associated with the individual substrate and theassociated connections may be reduced by use of some embodiments of the3D IC invention. For mobile device these may be very importantcompetitive advantages. Some of these blocks might be better processedin different process flow or wafer fab location. For example the DSP/CPU902 is a logic function that might use a logic process flow while thestorage 922 might better be done using a NAND Flash technology processflow or wafer fab. An important advantage of some of the embodiments ofthe monolithic 3D inventions may be to allow some of the layers in the3D structure to be processed using a logic process flow while anotherlayer in the 3D structure might utilize a memory process flow, and thensome other function the modems of the GPS or local position system (LPS)detection component 924 might use a high speed analog process flow orwafer fab. As those diverse functions may be structured in one deviceonto many different layers, these diverse functions could be veryeffectively and densely vertically interconnected.

Charge trap NAND (Negated AND) memory devices are another form ofpopular commercial non-volatile memories. Charge trap device store theircharge in a charge trap layer, wherein this charge trap layer theninfluences the channel of a transistor. Background information oncharge-trap memory can be found in “Integrated Interconnect Technologiesfor 3D Nanoelectronic Systems”, Artech House, 2009 by Bakir and Meindl(“Bakir”), “A Highly Scalable 8-Layer 3D Vertical-Gate (VG) TFT NANDFlash Using Junction-Free Buried Channel BE-SONOS Device,” Symposium onVLSI Technology, 2010 by Hang-Ting Lue, et al., and “Introduction toFlash memory”, Proc. IEEE91, 489-502 (2003) by R. Bez, et al. Workdescribed in Bakir utilized selective epitaxy, laser recrystallization,or polysilicon to form the transistor channel, which results in lessthan satisfactory transistor performance. The architectures shown inFIGS. 10A-10G may be relevant for any type of charge-trap memory.

As illustrated in FIGS. 10A to 10G, a charge trap based 3D memory withzero additional masking steps per memory layer 3D memory may beconstructed that may be suitable for 3D IC manufacturing. This 3D memoryutilizes NAND strings of charge trap junction-less transistors withjunction-less select transistors constructed in mono-crystallinesilicon.

As illustrated in FIG. 10A, a silicon substrate with peripheralcircuitry 1002 may be constructed with high temperature (greater thanapproximately 400° C.) resistant wiring, such as, for example, Tungsten.The peripheral circuitry substrate 1002 may include memory controlcircuits as well as circuitry for other purposes and of various types,such as, for example, analog, digital, RF, or memory. The peripheralcircuitry substrate 1002 may include peripheral circuits that canwithstand an additional rapid-thermal-anneal (RTA) and still remainoperational and retain good performance. For this purpose, theperipheral circuits may be formed such that they have not been subjectedto a weak RTA or no RTA for activating dopants in anticipation ofanneals later in the process flow. The top surface of the peripheralcircuitry substrate 1002 may be prepared for oxide wafer bonding with adeposition of a silicon oxide layer 1004, thus forming acceptor wafer1014.

As illustrated in FIG. 10B, a mono-crystalline silicon donor wafer 1012may be processed to include a wafer sized layer of N+ doping (not shown)which may have a different dopant concentration than the N+ substrate1006. The N+ doping layer may be formed by ion implantation and thermalanneal. A screen oxide layer 1008 may be grown or deposited prior to theimplant to protect the silicon from implant contamination and to providean oxide surface for later wafer to wafer bonding. A layer transferdemarcation plane 1010 (shown as a dashed line) may be formed in donorwafer 1012 within the N+ substrate 1006 or the N+ doping layer (notshown) by hydrogen implantation or other methods as previouslydescribed. Both the donor wafer 1012 and acceptor wafer 1014 may beprepared for wafer bonding as previously described and then bonded atthe surfaces of oxide layer 1004 and oxide layer 1008, for example, at alow temperature (less than approximately 400° C.) for lowest stresses,or a moderate temperature (less than approximately 900° C.).

As illustrated in FIG. 10C, the portion of the N+ layer (not shown) andthe N+ wafer substrate 1006 that may be above the layer transferdemarcation plane 1010 may be removed by cleaving and polishing, orother processes as previously described, such as, for example, ion-cutor other methods, thus forming the remaining mono-crystalline silicon N+layer 1006′. Remaining N+ layer 1006′ and oxide layer 1008 have beenlayer transferred to acceptor wafer 1014. The top surface of N+ layer1006′ may be chemically or mechanically polished smooth and flat. Oxidelayer 1020 may be deposited to prepare the surface for later oxide tooxide bonding. This now forms the first Si/SiO2 layer 1023 whichincludes silicon oxide layer 1020, N+ silicon layer 1006′, and oxidelayer 1008.

As illustrated in FIG. 10D, additional Si/SiO2 layers, such as, forexample, second Si/SiO2 layer 1025 and third Si/SiO2 layer 1027, mayeach be formed as described in FIGS. 10A to 10C. Oxide layer 1029 may bedeposited to electrically isolate the top N+ silicon layer.

As illustrated in FIG. 10E, oxide layer 1029, third Si/SiO2 layer 1027,second Si/SiO2 layer 1025 and first Si/SiO2 layer 1023 may belithographically defined and plasma/RIE etched to form a portion of thememory cell structure, which now includes regions of N+ silicon 1026 andoxide 1022.

As illustrated in FIG. 10F, a gate stack may be formed with growth ordeposition of a charge trap gate dielectric layer, such as, for example,thermal oxide and silicon nitride layers (ONO: Oxide-Nitride-Oxide), anda gate metal electrode layer, such as, for example, doped or undopedpoly-crystalline silicon. The gate metal electrode layer may then beplanarized with chemical mechanical polishing. Alternatively, the chargetrap gate dielectric layer may include silicon or III-V nano-crystalsencased in an oxide. The select transistor gate area 1038 may include anon-charge trap dielectric. The gate metal electrode regions 1030 andgate dielectric regions 1028 of both the NAND string area 1036 andselect transistor gate area 1038 may be lithographically defined andplasma/RIE etched.

As illustrated in FIG. 10G, the entire structure may be substantiallycovered with a gap fill oxide 1032, which may be planarized withchemical mechanical polishing. The oxide 1032 is shown transparent inthe figure for clarity. Select metal lines 1046 may be formed andconnect to the associated select gate contacts 1034. Contacts andassociated metal interconnect lines (not shown) may be formed for the WLand SL at the memory array edges. Word-line regions (WL) 1036, coupledwith and composed of gate metal electrode regions 1030, and bit-lineregions (BL) 1052, composed of indicated N+ silicon regions 1026, areshown. Source regions 1044 may be formed by trench contact etch and fillto couple to the N+ silicon regions on the source end of the NANDstring. A thru layer via (not shown) may be formed to electricallycouple the BL, SL, and WL metallization to the acceptor wafer 1014peripheral circuitry via an acceptor wafer metal connect pad (notshown).

This flow enables the formation of a charge trap based 3D memory withzero additional masking steps per memory layer constructed by layertransfers of wafer sized doped layers of mono-crystalline silicon andthis 3D memory may be connected to an underlying multi-metal layersemiconductor device.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that theillustrations in FIGS. 10A through 10G are exemplary only and are notdrawn to scale. Such skilled persons will further appreciate that manyvariations are possible such as, for example, BL or SL contacts may beconstructed in a staircase manner as described previously. Additionally,the stacked memory layer may be connected to a periphery circuit thatmay be above the memory stack. Moreover, each tier of memory could beconfigured with a slightly different donor wafer N+ layer dopingprofile. Further, the memory could be organized in a different manner,such as BL and SL interchanged, or where buried wiring for the memoryarray may be below the memory layers but above the periphery. Additionaltypes of 3D charge trap memories may be constructed by layer transfer ofmono-crystalline silicon; for example, those found in “A Highly Scalable8-Layer 3D Vertical-Gate (VG) TFT NAND Flash Using Junction-Free BuriedChannel BE-SONOS Device,” Symposium on VLSI Technology, 2010 byHang-Ting Lue, et al. and “Multi-layered Vertical Gate NAND Flashovercoming stacking limit for terabit density storage”, Symposium onVLSI Technology, 2009 by W. Kim, S. Choi, et al. Many othermodifications within the scope of the invention will suggest themselvesto such skilled persons after reading this specification. Thus theinvention is to be limited only by the appended claims.

It will also be appreciated by persons of ordinary skill in the art thatthe invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown anddescribed hereinabove. For example, drawings or illustrations may notshow n or p wells for clarity in illustration. Further, combinations andsub-combinations of the various features described hereinabove may beutilized to form a 3D IC based system. Rather, the scope of theinvention includes both combinations and sub-combinations of the variousfeatures described hereinabove as well as modifications and variationswhich would occur to such skilled persons upon reading the foregoingdescription. Thus the invention is to be limited only by the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A 3D semiconductor device, the device comprising:a first level comprising single crystal first transistors, wherein saidfirst level is overlaid by a first isolation layer; a second levelcomprising single crystal second transistors, wherein said firstisolation layer is overlaid by said second level, and wherein saidsecond level is overlaid by a second isolation layer; a third levelcomprising single crystal third transistors, wherein said secondisolation layer is overlaid by said third level, wherein said thirdlevel is overlaid by a third isolation layer, and wherein said firstisolation layer and said second isolation layer are separated by adistance of less than four microns.
 2. The device according to claim 1,wherein said distance is less than two microns.
 3. The device accordingto claim 1, further comprising: a connective path between said thirdtransistors and said second transistors, wherein said connective pathcomprises a via through said second isolation, and wherein said via hasa diameter of less than 400 nm.
 4. The device according to claim 1,further comprising: a heat removal path from said second transistors toan external surface of said device.
 5. The device according to claim 1,further comprising: a power delivery path to said second transistors,wherein at least a portion of said power delivery path is underneath atleast one of said second transistors.
 6. The device according to claim1, wherein misalignment between said third transistors and said secondtransistors is less than 100 nm.
 7. The device according to claim 1,further comprising: first connections to external devices; and secondconnections to external devices, wherein at least a portion of saidfirst connections are underneath said first isolation layer, and whereinat least a portion of said second connections are above said thirdisolation layer.
 8. A 3D semiconductor device, the device comprising: afirst level comprising single crystal first transistors, wherein saidfirst level is overlaid by a first isolation layer; a second levelcomprising single crystal second transistors, wherein said firstisolation layer is overlaid by said second level, and wherein saidsecond level is overlaid by a second isolation layer; a third levelcomprising single crystal third transistors, wherein said secondisolation layer is overlaid by said third level, wherein said thirdlevel is overlaid by a third isolation layer; and a connective path fromsaid third transistors to said second transistors, wherein saidconnective path comprises a via through said second isolation, andwherein said via has a diameter of less than 400 nm.
 9. The deviceaccording to claim 8, wherein said first isolation layer and said secondisolation layer are separated by a distance of less than two microns.10. The device according to claim 8, wherein a majority of said secondlevel comprises memory.
 11. The device according to claim 8, furthercomprising: a heat removal path from said second transistors to anexternal surface of said device.
 12. The device according to claim 8,further comprising: a power delivery path to said second transistors,wherein at least a portion of said power delivery path is underneath atleast one of said second transistors.
 13. The device according to claim8, wherein misalignment between said third transistors and said secondtransistors is less than 100 nm.
 14. The device according to claim 8,further comprising: first connections to at least one external device;and second connections to at least one external device, wherein at leasta portion of said first connections are underneath said first isolationlayer, and wherein at least a portion of said second connections areabove said third isolation layer.
 15. A 3D semiconductor device, thedevice comprising: a first level comprising single crystal firsttransistors, wherein said first level is overlaid by a first isolationlayer; a second level comprising single crystal second transistors,wherein said first isolation layer is overlaid by said second level, andwherein said second level is overlaid by a second isolation layer; athird level comprising single crystal third transistors, wherein saidsecond isolation layer is overlaid by said third level, wherein saidthird level is overlaid by a third isolation layer, and whereinmisalignment between said third transistors and said second transistorsis less than 100 nm.
 16. The device according to claim 15, wherein saidfirst isolation layer and said second isolation layer are separated by adistance of less than four microns.
 17. The device according to claim15, further comprising: a connective path from said third transistors tosaid second transistors, wherein said connective path comprises a viathrough said second isolation, and wherein said via has a diameter ofless than 400 nm.
 18. The device according to claim 15, furthercomprising: a heat removal path from said second transistors to anexternal surface of said device.
 19. The device according to claim 15,further comprising: a power delivery path to said second transistors,wherein at least a portion of said power delivery path is underneath atleast one of said second transistors.
 20. The device according to claim15, further comprising: first connections to at least one externaldevice; and second connections to at least one external device, whereinat least a portion of said first connections are underneath said firstisolation layer, and wherein at least a portion of said secondconnections are above said third isolation layer.